Salem Area Community Betterment Association (SACBA) will hold its annual Volunteer Recognition Dinner to honor volunteer citizens and organizations on Tuesday, February 26th. The dinner will be held at The Gathering Place in the Grace Community Church at 6:30 p.m. Tickets may be purchased at the TCRC, the Visitors Center and from SACBA board members for $20.00. Nominations were received in six different categories for volunteer recognition. For Education, the nominees include The Salem Public Library Board, Thom Haines and Phillip Giacomelli. For Community Enhancement, there were five nominees and they include the Salem United Methodist Church, the American Legion Post #99, Mike and Dianne Godi, George and Liz Gruendel, and Shawn Bolerjack. In the Youth Category, as an adult or adult organization pertaining to youth, nominations included Brock Cook, Brad Pryor, and Rachel Kitchens. In the Youth category, as a youth or youth organization, Matt Sirois was the only nominee. For Humanitarianism, there were five nominees for that category and they include the Council for a Healthy Dent County, Jim and Diane Boulware, Julie Salyer, Project Win and Cindy Stluka. There were two nominees for Historic Preservation and they were Dennis Hayman and Deloris Gray Wood. The Gift of Time awards will be presented and all nominees will be honored at the Volunteer Recognition Dinner. Tickets need to be purchased no later than Wednesday, February 20th and the Brickhouse Grill in Salem will be catering dinner.

The Salem Police Department has released their reports. On Friday, February 1st at 12:03 in the afternoon, an officer was dispatched to Walmart in reference to a shoplifter. The investigation of the report led to the detention of a 15-year old female juvenile of Salem for stealing merchandise valued $40.88. She was released to a parent and the report will be forwarded to the Juvenile Office. On Saturday, February 2nd at 1:23 in the early morning, an officer stopped a vehicle for a traffic violation. The investigation of the stop led to the arrest of a 42-year old Houston male on four active fugitive arrests warrants from Clay County, Missouri. He was released after posting bond. Later that same morning at 6:09, an officer responded to a residence in the 100 block of North Iron in reference to a disturbance. The investigation of the report revealed that a 35-year old Salem male had assaulted a 47-year old Salem male. Further investigation led to the arrest of the suspect for assault and disorderly conduct. He was incarcerated pending the application for warrants. On Sunday, February 3rd at 2:35 in the afternoon, an officer was dispatched to Walmart in reference to a shoplifter. The investigation of the report revealed that an unknown male had stolen a coat valued at $50. Please contact the Salem Police Department at 729-4242 if you have any information regarding an ongoing investigation or about a report that was mentioned above.

The Dent County Cattlemen will hold their legislative update meeting on Thursday, February 14th at the Bank of Salem Courtesy Room on 4th Street in downtown Salem beginning at 7:00 pm. In attendance will be House Representative Jeff Pogue, Senator Dan Brown, Dent County Presiding Commissioner Darrell Skiles, District 1 Commissioner Dennis Purcell, District 2 Commissioner Gary Larson, and Dent County Sheriff Rick Stallings. Each speaker will give an update on current events as well as answer any questions. Light refreshments will be provided following the meeting. The meeting of the Dent County Cattlemen’s Association is open to the public.

The Thayer Bobcats put an end to the hopes of the Salem Boys Basketball Tigers possibly sharing the SCA title, beating them by the final score of 55-47 at Thayer. Salem was led in scoring by Logan Pogue with 14 points followed by Chad Elliott with 13 points. The loss drops the Tigers to 4-2 in the SCA and 10-13 overall. The Tigers will host the Mountain View-Liberty Eagles Friday night and it will be Senior Night.

The Salem Boys Basketball Tigers have been seeded 4th in District play and will play the 5th seed, Eldon, at the Marshfield High School Gym on Monday, February 25th at 6:00. The Lady Tigers have been seeded 6th and they will face 3rd seeded Hillcrest on Saturday, February 23rd at 3:30 in the afternoon at the Marshfield High School Gym. The cost of admission to all District games is $4.00 per person.

The Salem Lady Tigers 7th/8th Grade Basketball Team won the Rolla Parks and Recreational League Tournament held this past Saturday. The Lady Tigers defeated Steelville, 56-27, before downing Plato in the Championship game, 38-22. The Lady Tigers finished with a perfect 8-0 record in the league and tournament. They will be traveling to the Sho-Me Games in Columbia this month. Congratulations Lady Tigers!!

The Salem Tiger Baseball team will play Mattoon, Illinois at Busch Stadium on Sunday, June 2nd after the Cardinals/Giants game. Ticket prices are $25.00 and include the Cards/Giants game that begins at 1:15pm and then the Salem Tiger game. They have three hours to play the game. This is an exciting opportunity for our baseball team. The original ticket prices for these seats are $53. Tickets will be sold at the remaining boys and girls home basketball games and also can be purchased at the Salem TCRC, located in the Salem Community Center @ the Armory. The team has 800 tickets to sell with about 600 tickets remaining. For more info, please call 729-8163.

The Missouri Tiger basketball team will be playing at Mississippi State tonight. Missouri is 17-6 on the year and 6-4 in the SEC. You’ll be able to hear the game on KSMO Radio at 6:30.

The St. Louis Blues will attempt to halt a five game losing streak tonight in Detroit, as they’ll face the Red Wings at 6:30. The Blues are 6-5-1 on the year and you can hear the 3rd period following the Missouri game on KSMO Radio.

Funeral services for Trevin E. Bond of Hillsboro, age 92, will be held today at 1:00 at the Wilson Mortuary in Salem. Visitation will be from noon until time of service. Interment will be in the Kissock Cemetery with full military honors. Memorials may be made to St. Jude Children’s Research.

Funeral services for Mary Jane Slade of Davisville, age 78, will be held Friday at 11:00 at the Britton-Bennett Funeral Home in Steelville. Visitation will be Thursday from 5:00 to 8:00. Interment will be in the Davisville Cemetery. Memorials may be made to the American Heart Association.

Funeral services for Joseph Segobiano of Rolla, age 74, will be held Friday at 11:00 at the James and Gahr Mortuary in Rolla. Visitation will be Thursday from 5:00 to 7:00. Interment will be at Missouri State Veterans Cemetery in Ft. Leonard Wood. Memorials may be made to the VA Hospital.

Graveside services for Betty Mae Benton of Rolla, age 64, will be held Friday at 11:00 at the Ozark Hills Memorial Gardens Cemetery in Rolla. Visitation will be Thursday from 6:00 to 8:00 pm at the Null and Son Funeral Home in Rolla. Memorial contributions are suggested to the Spirit F.M. Radio.

Eugene Edwards of Jadwin passed away on February 10th at the age of 65. At Gene's request, his body will be donated to science in hopes of finding a cure for cancer. No memorial service will be held. All arrangements are under the direction of the Dent County Memorial Chapel.

A Celebration of Life for William E. Seay of Salem, age 91, will be held Saturday, February 16th at 1:00 in the afternoon at the Wilson Mortuary in Salem. Memorials may be made to the Salem Public Library Building Fund.